Today's Special
by pluhsauce
Summary: Sakura, a money-desperate college student, finds herself as a waitress at Icha Icha, where the uniforms are almost as short as her temper. Dealing with classwork, pervy customers, and Temari's matchmaking, she almost didn't notice the handsome bartender that seemed to watch her every move. AU SasuSaku / some GaaSaku
1. Chapter 1

**I know, I know. Starting a new story when I have other ones to update? (Try not to kill me too soon-I just had to get this little plot bunny out of my mind before I started anything else)**

* * *

Halfway through her junior year, Sakura came to a realization.

Although she was well on her way to being accepted into any medical school she wished (thanks to a prestigious internship under the world-famous Dr. Tsunade), she had no means of _paying_ for said medical school. Looking up tuition was enough to send her into a spiral of anxiety.

At Konoha University she had landed full scholarship, but medical schools rarely (if ever) did the same. If she wanted any hope of living off of something other than ramen and tears for four years, she had to get a job...and FAST.

She had asked around quite a bit, but with her only work experience being so specific, her pickings were very slim indeed. Naruto recommended plasma Ino had suggested finding a sugar daddy, but soon realized Sakura's stubborn personality was not exactly suited for that lifestyle. Hinata offered to have her work at the cafe she did, but the hours conflicted with Sakura's class schedule.

Thankfully, refuge came in the form of Temari, the girl who lived down the hall from her in the honors dorms.

"Have you ever considered being a server?" she asked Sakura during one of their weekly movie-and-popcorn nights (Temari had a nicer TV, so the girls always went to her dorm). Sakura pursed her lips in contemplation.

"Isn't it awful to deal with difficult customers?"

Temari shrugged. "The place I work is really casual. I've never had anyone be difficult with me."

"Where do you work?"

"It's called Icha Icha. Want me to set up an interview for you?"

Sakura's mouth fell open. "Really? You'd do that for me?"

The blonde laughed. "Yeah, it's not a big deal! Plus I feel like you'd do really well."

"Temari you have saved my life!" Sakura exclaimed, squeezing her in a tight hug.

"Sakura! You're crushing me!" she scolded, pushing her back and playfully tackling her to the ground.

"Te-"

They were interrupted by the door opening.

"Is this what girls do during sleepovers?" Shikamaru smirked, much to the girls' chagrin. Gaara, Temari's brother, stood quietly to his side. The girls clamored off each other.

"It's not what it looks like," Temari replied, rolling her eyes. "Unless, maybe...you're jealous? Maybe Sakura would be willing to have a thr-"

"That's enough," Gaara quickly interjected. Sakura's cheeks flushed a little under the heated stare he directed at her.

"Ah, I should probably get going...I have a lot of homework to get finished tonight," she said awkwardly, gathering up her things. Temari frowned.

"You sure? You can do it here!"

"No, I'm fine! I do my best work when I'm alone!" _Great, now I sound like a freak._

"Fine, have it your way," her friend huffed. "Come in at 8pm tomorrow for your interview! I'll text you the address. And don't worry about dressing up or anything!"

"Okay!"

"Perfect. Now, Gaara can walk you home!" Temari said, giving her brother a wink.

"...I live down the hall."

"I'll do it," Gaara accepted.

"Be safe you guys!" Temari sing-songed as Shikamaru came over to cuddle with her on the couch. As soon as the two left, she burst into excited laughter. "Ah, aren't they so cute! It's about time Gaara got a crush on someone. I was beginning to think he'd be alone forever!"

"Temari..." Shikamaru said in a wary tone. "Does Sakura know what kind of restaurant Icha Icha is?"

"Hahaha..." Temari smiled sheepishly. "Must've slipped my mind!"

Shikamaru sighed. "How troublesome."

* * *

The walk only lasted 30 seconds, but the tense silence between the two made it seem much longer. When they finally reached the door, it took Sakura an uncomfortably long time to find where her keys were (the answer: the absolute bottom of her school bag), and Gaara took it upon himself to run a hand slowly through a few strands of her hair, making her jump. She looked up to see him staring at her very intensely.

 _Is he going to-_

"You had a piece of popcorn in your hair," he said simply, showing her the kernel he had plucked. Sakura flushed all kinds of red.

"T-thanks, I'll get going now!" she stumbled out, opening her door quickly.

"Good luck with the homework."

"Huh? What homework?"

"The homework you are leaving to work on?" he smirked in amusement. Caught in her lie, Sakura chose then to rush inside, giving Gaara a fast goodbye and an even faster closing of the door.

Now that she was by herself, Sakura sighed, sliding her back down the wall until she sat on the ground, head in her hands.

 _I sounded like such an idiot. Ugh...and I really thought he was about to kiss me! I'm going to kill Temari later for making him escort me down a frickin hallway!_

Self-loathing finished, she set her bag down on her couch and plopped down soon afterward.

 _...maybe I should start next week's homework._

* * *

At 7:45, Sakura pulled into the parking lot of Icha Icha, dressed in her favorite jeans and a flowy red top. The January air was freezing, so she half-ran inside the building in hopes of staying warm.

The first thing she noticed was that Temari had left out a very crucial detail about the atmosphere of the restaurant.

She had neglected to tell her that the server uniform consisted of an impossibly short plaid skirt and a white button-up tied to show as much midriff as possible. (A/N: think Brittany Spears' schoolgirl costume)

Before she could turn on her heel and walk out, a man with gravity-defying grey hair made eye contact with her and made his way over.

"You must be Sakura! Temari has said so many great things about you!"

Swallowing her embarrassment, Sakura met his hand with a firm shake. "Nice to meet you...?"

"Just call me Kakashi," he smiled. "Let's have a seat in the office."

He ushered her through the dining room, past done-up servers and excited patrons. Eventually, they reached their destination, a small room in the back littered with unsorted papers and boxes.

"Temari's one of our best employees, so I have no need for an actual interview. I'm happy to hire you right away," he said immediately, gesturing her to sit down. "But I'm sure you have some questions, so ask away while I get some uniforms for you. You're a small, correct?"

She nodded.

"When are shifts typically scheduled?"

"We're pretty flexible with hours for students. Our hours are noon to 2am every day, and shifts are usually 6-8 hours. You can do anywhere from one to four shifts a week."

"And how much money do the servers usually make?"

"Usually averages about 300," he shrugged, handing her two sets of uniforms (which to her horror, also included white knee socks).

"300...dollars?" she asked incredulously.

"We have a lot of older, very well-off regulars," Kakashi explained. "They treat our girls well."

Up until that moment, Sakura had fully intended on turning down the job offer. But making $300 a shift...that would mean she could feasibly make $1,200 a week! As a college student! She couldn't help but allow a smile to creep onto her face.

"Looks like that's what you wanted to hear," Kakashi chuckled, handing a menu. "Feel free to look this over. Are you free to train tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Sakura smiled. "My availability is 4-12 Monday through Saturday."

Kakashi frowned. "You sure you're okay with working weekend nights? You probably won't be able to party it up, or whatever you college kids do."

"No worries!" she assured. "Never been much of a partier. Plus, I don't turn 21 for another few months!"

Kakashi smirked. _What a sweet little thing. Our customers are going to love her._

"Perfect! We'll fill out all the tax paperwork tomorrow."

With that, he walked her out, explaining small details of the restaurant as they went. People looked curiously at the new girl, from the servers seeing their new coworker to the regular customers seeing a new option.

Of all the scrutinizing glances, Sakura only felt one.

However, when she turned to glance in that direction, all she saw was a dark-haired bartender with his back turned, furiously washing a glass that was already clean.

 _Maybe I just imagined it?_

* * *

Kakashi was in one of the best moods of his life, and it didn't take long for his employees to figure out why.

"You look like a psychopath," the bartender scowled, referring to the creepily wide smile on the older man's face. He walked over from his perch at the bar as soon as Kakashi was done escorting the new girl out.

"The girl I just hired is going to be a breath of fresh air at this place!" Kakashi gushed, pulling out a worn novel from his back pocket and flipping to where he last left off. "You'll love her, Sasuke. She has a great head on her shoulders."

"More like she doesn't belong."

Kakashi frowned, not taking his eyes off of his book. "Judging her before speaking a word to her, I see. Give her a chance-she's just trying to put herself through college. Not that _you'd_ know what that's like."

Not wanting to start a fight, Sasuke walked away, cursing the man under his breath the whole way.

* * *

 **I LOVE reading fics where Temari and Sakura are friends! I feel like they work really well together :)**

 **let me know what you guys think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Back from my hiatus! I graduated college and am now living the city life while working two jobs to pay off student loans (can you tell I based part of this story on my own life? hehe). Let me know if you guys have any advice for meeting people in a new city! I'd love to meet some people that also anime fans, but it can be tricky since a lot of people aren't very open about it.**

* * *

Once she got back to her dorm, Sakura could barely focus on the open textbook in front of her. She had hoped to study for an upcoming Organic Chemistry exam, but her mind was still going over what exactly had happened earlier.

Sure, she was all for women wearing whatever they wanted, but when it came to _her_ wearing something like _that_ , she couldn't help but pause.

 _But I do really need money, and Icha Icha has undoubtedly the best money payoff I could get with my limited schedule.._

With a glance towards the plastic-enclosed uniform on her couch, she came to the realization that she didn't even know if she would look good in the outfit, much less have the courage to wear it in public.

She sighed, reluctantly stripping down to change.

 _This is so embarrassing. I don't know how Temari does it..._

She tied the white shirt on first, absent-mindedly wondering if she should invest in some safety pins lest a drunk customer tries to untie it on the job. The skirt came next, sitting pretty high on hips. Sakura kept to a pretty regular workout routine (and had the body to prove it), but unforunately her toned bottom had given her a not-so-subtle issue.

Turning around, she openly gaped at how little of her rear the skirt covered. You could practically see her cheeks! Scowling, she focused her attention on pulling up the knee socks and sliding on a pair of black loafers.

 _This actually doesn't look half-bad.._ she mused, giving herself a once-over in the mirror and doing a little twirl. _I'm sure I can get used to it, even if it means downing a few glasses of wine before my first few shifts..._

The blare of the building's fire alarm shook her from her thoughts.

 _Ugh! Could this happen at a worse time?_ she inwardly groaned, pulling on a bathrobe to hide her outfit. The RAs of the building were unforunately very strict, and if she took too long to leave her room and meet at the designated spot, she would get a hefty fine.

Grabbing her phone and keys, she half-jogged out of her room and down the stairs, slowing down once she reached the patch of grass outside where residents were supposed to meet. Eyes searching the crowd for Temari, it only took her a few seconds before hurrying over to her blonde friend.

Gaara stood next to Temari, looking over a textbook while his sister cracked jokes about how the drill was probably over someone's burnt toast or something.

"Sakura!" Temari cheerfully greeted, with Gaara jolting his head up and giving her a slight smile. However, once Temari started looking over her friend's attire, Sakura's heart began to race.

 _Surely she wouldn't-_ "SAKURA OMG are you trying on your work uniform? Does this mean you got the job? LET ME SEE!"

Before Sakura could protest, she tore open the robe, her outfit exposed in all its glory. Her cheeks flushed a deep red as she stared at the ground, trying to ignore Temari's cheerful squeal and Gaara's wide eyes. Sakura quickly tied the robe back on.

"Come on, Sakura. If you're not comfortable showing it to people you know, you won't last a day on the job!" Temari groaned.

"It's not that!" Sakura protested. "I just don't want everyone in my dorm to know where I work! It's embarrassing!"

"I guess you have a point," Temari frowned. She turned to her brother. "What'd you think, Gaara?"

"Uh-I..." Gaara stammered out. "It looks nice."

Temari smirked. "See? I don't know why I even offered you the job! You're going to be stealing all the regulars from me."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "You're a lot better at flirting that I am. I don't think you have anything to worry about."

"When's your first shift?"

"Tomorrow."

"Awesome! I work then too. Hopefully I can convince Kakashi to let me do all your training. A lot of our coworkers are huge airheads."

"Great."

The RAs started yelling that the building was safe to return to, so the trio did just that, with Temari walking slightly ahead of the other two.

"Are you sure you want to work there?" Gaara said quietly to Sakura, eyes full of worry. "My sister has told me a lot of horror stories about pervy customers."

"I need the money," Sakura sighed. "If I can survive this, I won't have to worry about debt while in medical school later on."

Gaara nodded, still not quite happy with her response.

"Well if you need me to scare off any creepy guys, you have my number."

Sakura couldn't help but smile at that. Gaara gave off a pretty intimidating aura. "Thanks for the offer."

As they walked up the stairs together, she suddenly realized that if she _really_ wanted to succeed at work, she'd need to invest in a push-up bra.

* * *

Pulling into the parking lot, Sakura's stomach was knots as she anticipated what her first day on the job would be like. Although Temari sat a few feet away, she felt like she was heading into a lion's den alone.

When they got out and headed towards the door, Temari gave her a comforting squeeze on the shoulder. "You're going to do great, Sakura! Just think-not only will you save money, but you'll also improve your people skills!"

"I didn't realize they needed improving," Sakura grumbled.

Temari shrugged, holding open the door as they walked in. "Eh, the whole 'strong independent woman' thing doesn't work on everyone. Sometimes you have to pretend to be civil to assholes."

Sakura rolled her eyes, her response cut off by Kakashi rushing over with a twinkle in his eye, giving her an appreciative look.

"Sakura! You look so amazing! I'm so glad to have you as part of the team~" Kakashi grinned, earning a slap on the side from Temari.

"Don't get too fresh with her, pervert," she warned. "She's already taken."

Sakura flushed. _Surely she doesn't mean Ga-_

"-She's in a serious relationship with her studies. No time for men in her life."

Kakashi chuckled. "Don't worry, Sakura. We have a strict policy against coworker relationships. Let's get you into the office to fill out some tax forms before you start your training with Temari."

Said blonde gave her a thumbs up as Kakashi escorted Sakura into the office in the back. He cleared off a chair for her to sit and slid over a stack of forms to sign.

Focused on skimming over the documents, Sakura almost didn't realize that someone else had entered the office.

"Kakashi, Karin's being weird again. I thought I told you not to scheduele me on the days that she wor-"

Sakura looked up curiously, only to lock eyes with one of the most attractive men she had seen in her 20 years of being alive. Inky black hair contrasted with his pale complexion, and his body was lithe and athletic-looking. His uniform was a darker version of Kakashi's, wearing black slacks and a grey button-up like he had just stepped out of a fashion catalogue.

He broke eye contact first, looking at Kakashi expectantly.

 _Is he not going to introduce himself? He may be hot, but he certainly does not have manners._ Sakura thought bitterly. Thankfully, she kept her composure and went back to filling out her paperwork.

"Sorry about that, Sasuke! I've been so busy, I must have forgotten," Kakashi sheepishly answered. "I'll put her in the section farthest away from you, if that makes you feel better."

"Hn."

Kakashi looked from Sasuke to Sakura and back, giving the boy an exaggerated wink. Sasuke scowled and walked out, dreading the conversation he was bound to have with Kakashi afterwards.

* * *

 **I have the next few chapters lined out, but as always, I'm open to suggestions! A certain someone will play a huge role in the story soon. Can you guess who~? ; )**


End file.
